Remembering Bob

"Jesus Christ, Ross, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

That is something you never expect to hear from a teacher and it is something I'll never forget. Surprisingly, I laughed when Bob Louks asked me this question.

I had written many stories in my journalism program at Algonquin College that had caught Bob's attention, whether I had done so as an assignment from him or from other teachers. I had written about a farmer, Harvey Grunch, who was killed when he was caught in his thrasher, and had given the headline Harvey Grunch Becomes Harvest Crunch.

I had followed the life of a young man who was dying from AIDS at a time when the disease was just coming to the height of the mid 80s. I had test driven a car and took it to its maximum speed when I lost control—then regained it—on a quiet road.

And now I had come to Bob to discuss another project that I wanted to pursue: child abuse. All these years later, I don't remember the specifics of the story I was looking to write but I'll never forget Bob's reaction.

Bob was a great teacher. He did let his students explore ideas and gave them creative freedom. My classmates and I were the founding members of the college's newspaper, Algonquin Times, which was spearheaded by Bob, who had spent years at The Ottawa Citizen, from cub reporter to city editor. In our first year creating the paper, we won an award for best community paper, among others.

All under Bob's leadership and mentoring.

When the college paper reached its 30th anniversary, a journalism buddy of mine, Michel, and I attended, where we saw Bob for the first time in decades. The three of us were the only founding members of the paper in attendance. Another journalism teacher, who had just started at the college in our second year, Pat Dare, and who later took over as publisher of the Algonquin Times, was also there.

Michel Hell (reporter, photographer, photo editor), me (reporter, copy editor), Bob Louks (teacher, publisher), Pat Dare (teacher, publisher).
Bob is holding the first-ever edition of our paper.

Sadly, Bob passed away on May 7. He was 83. Today, a celebration of life service is being held for him in Smiths Falls. He will be missed.

As I stated when I wrote about the reunion, I regretted not having thanked Bob for all that he taught me. Even though I went after dark stories, even though I had put myself in danger to get all the information, and even though my twisted humour led to sick headlines, he never said no to a story idea. He let me be me.

Thanks, Bob. You made me a better writer.